Greeting to all bird lovers from North Alabama (1 Viewer)

[Altairc27]

Hello out there. We have relocated from North Florida to North Alabama. We have been in the Scottsboro, Alabama (Gunter Mountain) for the past six years and have been thoroughly enjoying the wide variety of wild bird life here. Being right next to the Tennessee River, we have large numbers of raptors in the area including nesting Bald Eagles and Ospreys. We have had a Peregrine Falcon in a tree just behind our back porch last fall and was able to get several good pix of it before he left. We have had some unusual birds as well. I have been able to identify all of them but one. This spring, we appear to have had an albino of some sort of wren or sparrow. I am attaching a couple of pix to see if anyone might be able to help identify it. It was having a meal from one of our tube feeders and I was able to get several decent shots of it. Looking forward to interacting with all of you and continue enjoying these wonders that nature shares with us. Hope that you all have a great weekend.

Best regards.... Clyde and Gerry Campbell Scottsboro, Alabama

 

[Lisa W]

Hi Clyde and Gerry, welcome to the forum on behalf of the staff and moderators. I think you will find us a friendly and helpful group.

 

[rkj]

With that thick bill it is definitely not a wren. With dark eyes, bill, and legs, the bird is not a true albino, but is leucistic or (some prefer the term) a partial albino. A solidly dark bill that thick is not common among native North American species. My first guess would be that it is an escaped cage bird. My second would be a bunting in the Indigo, Painted, or Lazuli Bunting group.

 

[D Halas]

It looks like a pale female Brown-headed Cowbird.

 

[delia todd]

Hi Clyde and Gerry and a warm welcome from me too. You can read more about the condition of leucism in our Opus Dictionary here: Dictionary G-L - BirdForum Opus

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I hope to hear about all the birds you see when out and about.

 

[Kits]

Welcome to Birdforum. I hope you enjoy your visits.

 

[THE_FERN]

It looks like a pale female Brown-headed Cowbird.

I agree. Brown-headed cowbird is one of the most frequent mystery species we get from the US, along with European starling. This cowbird is perhaps unusually pale. A good tip is to look at the bill shape. It's reasonably similar to other icterids (blackbirds), and very different to buntings.

 

[nartreb]

perhaps unusually pale.

I did some online searching and was a bit surprised at how much variation I found in photos, but there's no "perhaps" about this one. Even the palest examples had relatively dark wings and tail, which this bird doesn't. It's quite interesting that this bird still has a dark bill, it means we're looking at a down-regulation of eumelanin production in the feathers, not a mutation in eumelanin synthesis itself.
(No question in my mind it's a brown-headed cowbird. Overall shape is right, bill shape is right, and size is right (compared to chipping sparrow).)

 

[Altairc27]

Hey guys.... Thanks for all of your thoughtful replies. We are covered up with Brown Headed Cowbirds from time to time. Interesting to see one with that plumage. Sending along a pix of our back yard Peregrine Falcon. Enjoy your weekend....

 

[rkj]

Hi Campbells,
The bird in your most recent photo is a true hawk, I think a Cooper's Hawk, though others may correct me on this one too.

 

[Altairc27]

Hello again.... Thanx for the correction. I should have paid better attention to the color of the plumage on the breast. Definitely a difference in color. We are covered up with harks and merlins in our area. Enjoy your day....

 

[nartreb]

Cooper's hawk is correct.* It's a young adult (eyes not very red).

* I'm fairly sure it's not Sharp-shin: dark cap on top of head does not reach eye nor (as far as we can tell) extend down back of neck; head shape is squarish (though that could be feather ruffling).

 

[AveryBartels]

Cooper's hawk is correct.* It's a young adult (eyes not very red).

* I'm fairly sure it's not Sharp-shin: dark cap on top of head does not reach eye nor (as far as we can tell) extend down back of neck; head shape is squarish (though that could be feather ruffling).

Agreed, with Cooper's - darkish cap, flat crown, hefty bill etc.